yesterday afternoon (wednesday 25th), 5.53-5.58pm, on bbc radio 4pm (presented by eddie mair) concludes with
a report on gaza’s only grand piano …

(Eddie Mair: 0:52:59) “When Gaza makes the news, it’s usually with reports of how tens of thousand of people are still homeless after last year’s war with Israel, or how nearly half the population is unemployed, or that most of the water is undrinkable …”

“It has been hidden away in a dusty corner of an abandoned theatre, unplayed and almost forgotten – a magnificent instrument allowed to moulder away in a territory whose Islamist rulers banned public performances of music.
But now Gaza’s only grand piano is getting a new lease of life. A small Brussels-based charity* is restoring it to its former glory and at the same time is working to bring music back into schools.With Hamas control steadily weakening the charity has begun a unique project to train teachers in Gaza to re-introduce music into the curriculum – not through music classes but through subjects such as mathematics and geography. It is helping disturbed children in this war torn territory to concentrate – and it is exciting teachers.Tim Whewell gets exclusive access to the story of Gaza and its grand piano.”